Bertier did not personally meet Sinanidine, who had come as an emissary, but sent someone to Ksar Hellal Palace with a list of pirates, demanding that Hamoud Ali immediately hand over the individuals.
Under Hafsa’s advice, Ali decided to take a tough stance and uncompromisingly drove the French emissary out of Tunis City.
At the same time, a large-scale mobilization began within Tunis City.
Because many troops had been previously dispatched to Kairouan to deal with Eunice, there were less than a thousand guards left in Tunis City. However, Sinanidine demonstrated commendable personal ability, mobilizing over 7,000 noble guards within just two days.
To those unfamiliar with the situation in Tunisia, this might sound somewhat awkward. That is because the term “Guard” in Tunisia does not refer to the name of an army, but is closer to a class.
Over a hundred years ago, during the heyday of the Ottoman Empire, elite Ottoman Imperial Guards invaded North Africa, including Tunisia, Algiers, and Tripoli, and effortlessly defeated the locals, turning these places into provinces of the Ottoman Empire.
Afterward, as the Ottoman Empire declined, the Ottoman Imperial Guards stationed in North Africa began to control these areas and gradually broke away from Ottoman rule, becoming separate ruling entities.
The Ottoman Sultan, having no solution, simply granted them the title of “Pasha,” similar to a governor, acknowledging their rule over various parts of North Africa.
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To prevent being assimilated by the locals, these Ottoman Imperial Guards strictly practiced intermarriage within their group, maintained Ottoman attire, customs, and other traditions, forming a unique class.
Over the years, the Ottoman Imperial Guards became extremely wealthy by exploiting the local North Africans. The new generation of Guards, living comfortably from a young age, no longer possessed the valor of their ancestors.
Meanwhile, fragmentation began to appear within the Guards. The lower ranks continued to undertake military duties, while those with power and influence could hire others to serve in their place, eventually developing into a system where one could be exempted from military service by paying a fee.
Thus, the Tunisian Guard was no longer an army, but had become synonymous with the nobility.
At present, the Tunisian Guard class numbers nearly ninety thousand people, but the actual combat forces are less than twenty thousand.
However, nominally all members of the Guard were still soldiers, so when the Bey of Tunisia issued a mobilization order, a large number of noble guards were called up and formed into an army.
Yet most of these individuals had hardly ever handled guns, and their military training was almost non-existent, so one could imagine their combat effectiveness.
The next day at noon, an emissary from the Guard Corps arrived outside Tunis City, enumerated the crimes of the pirates, and vehemently denounced Hamoud Ali for collusion and sheltering pirates.
Subsequently, Bertier ordered an attack.
Tunis City, closely adjacent to the Port of Tunis, is a coastal city, so its defenses were primarily built against threats from the sea, with walls on only three sides—the side facing inland had almost no defense.
However, the Guard Corps happened to be attacking from land.
This time, unlike the landing operation needed in Bizerte, the entire corps could fully deploy. Cannons, war horses, and other equipment were all in place. It was a battle that could fully showcase the entire strength of the Guard Corps!
Bertier could become Napoleon’s chief of staff because he had an exceptional talent for troop deployment.
He had already surveyed the nearby terrain the night before and had drawn up a detailed combat plan.
At this moment, he stood on a mound opposite Tunis City, peering through his telescope at the dense Tunisian forces, and although he was somewhat nervous, he still ordered the artillery to begin the attack strictly according to the planned time.
The rolling sounds of gunfire immediately entered Tunis City, and together with the news from the previous day that the European fleet had blockaded the Port of Tunis, the city was thrown into utter chaos.
At the side gate of Ksar Hellal Palace, the guards were taken aback to see their lord’s nephew, Haji, approaching with more than a dozen entourage.
The leading guard hurriedly came forward with a salute and asked, “Pasha, do you need something?”
“I have urgent business with the Bey,” Haji gestured to a person dressed as a tailor behind him, “and on the way, make him a new robe.”
“Make a robe? Now?” The guard listened to the distant gunfire, a look of great confusion on his face.
Just then, those “tailors” suddenly surged into the palace gate, subduing the guards with their pistols. Beside the sculptures at Ksar Hellal Palace, roughly forty to fifty men armed with guns and scimitars rushed out, surrounding Haji as they continued toward the inner palace.
Since there was conflict with the Europeans, many of the guards from Ksar Hellal Palace had been reassigned. At this time, only a few dozen guards were present, scattered throughout the palace grounds on patrol.
Prosper personally led over a dozen special agents from the Police Affairs Department in formation at the front of the group. Whenever they saw a guard rushing over, they would immediately issue a command to stop and greet them with volley fire, then reload and continue advancing.
With this orderly progress, they barely took more than ten minutes to escort Haji to the rear halls of Ksar Hellal Palace.
In the end, in a bedroom on the second floor, Haji saw Hamoud Ali, dressed in casual attire, and Hafsa standing by his side.
His eyes immediately filled with endless chill.
Prosper instructed his men to carefully search the room, ensuring no guards were present, before withdrawing with the special agents, leaving only Haji’s people in the room.